How To Blowdry Fine, Wavy Hair

My hair has always been a challenge to style: it's an unbeatable combination of my mom's fineness and my dad's slight Jew fro-y-ness (love you, mom and dad). As we all know, I normally just throw it up in a bun. If I try to straighten my hair, it frizzes up within seconds of walking outside (don't even think about it during a DC summer), and if I try to curl my hair, it immediately falls flat.

But when it's time to bring out the big guns, I've mastered the following technique for blowdrying unruly locks into submission. There's one KEY point to this process and it's one I also learned while teaching myself to draw: DON'T MESS WITH IT. The less you get your hands in there, the better. Your first try is generally the best try - and less is more (same deal with applying styling products). For those of us with fine hair, this whole procedure shouldn't take more than 15 minutes. I imagine you could follow the same steps with thick or straight hair too (lucky ducks), to achieve soft, easy, relaxed, and all the other adjectives for sexy waves.

1. Allow hair to air dry until it's about 90% dry. Spray in a heat protector, covering strands from root to tip. I like TRESemme's Heat Tamer Spray because it's inexpensive and it smells nice.

2. I should probably get a nicer blowdryer than the one I got at CVS junior year of college. Anyways, aim a blowdryer on high hot heat at your roots, doing a full scalp combover of your hair all directions, for lots of volume.

3. Curl a front section of hair AWAY from your face around a 1 inch round brush, rolling it up to your scalp so the brush is perpendicular to the floor. Blast with low hot heat for about 10 seconds.

4. Twirl the brush out so it creates a little piglet ringlet (you know what I mean?).

5. Continue this process around your scalp so that you look like a Civil War debutante going to a ball.

6. Let your hair cool. Take a break and do your makeup.

7. On the blowdryer's cool low setting, gently blow out the curls. Seriously, don't touch them too much. They'll relax and loosen as you move around.

8. Warm some styling cream (I adore Bumble and Bumble Brilliantine) between your palms and lightly run it over all your hairs. Then "grind" (don't scrunch) some into the ends, for a little bit of definition.

That's it! Go on your merry way and seriously stop touching your hair, Lauren.

LF